


Reset: I can't believe you're back

by CookieDoughMe



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Haven - Fandom - Freeform, Haven Forever, Post-Series, Post-Troubles (Haven)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 19:30:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6920107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spoilers for the final episode (Season 5.2, Episode 26, Forever). Takes place directly afterwards, with a little alternative reality thrown in. Assumes everything except the last few minutes of Forever happened.<br/>I couldn't make my mind up how I wanted this to go, so there are two versions. This first one is the more canon-compliant, the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6931813/chapters/15811903">other one</a> starts off the same, but has more of an OT3 thing. Can be read in either order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reset: I can't believe you're back

**Author's Note:**

> What if everything we watched, happened - and yet our heroes all got a happy ending as well?  
> Takes place towards the end of “Forever”, the day the Troubles end.

“Thank you!” Duke waved to another group of happy tourists as they left The Gull to go and do happy-tourist things, their New York accents echoing off the walls as they went.

Clearing their table he saw a copy of the Haven Herald, left open on the apparently traffic-stopping news of CAT STUCK IN TREE. Duke shook his head, what must they make of a quiet little town like this he thought, where the most eventful thing that happens is a crowd of people rescuing an angry cat?

The table cleared, he made his way back behind the bar, and was glad of it to hold on to a moment later when his vision went white and his legs gave out. It felt like someone - something - was squeezing his brain. The light was blinding, but it wasn't really light. More like, information streaming into his head, a whole other lifetime filling his brain. A lifetime he had lived but not remembered now became a lifetime he remembered but had not lived.

He staggered to a chair and crashed down into it. Yesterday he had worked in The Gull, spoken to Vicky about buying one of her paintings to hang in here. Yesterday he had fought for control of his body from some otherworldly evil and begged Nathan Wuornos to kill him so it couldn't take control of him again. Yesterday, he had spoken to Nathan for the first time in months and handed the keys to the apartment upstairs over to Detective Parker. Yesterday Audrey had told him “We love you,” as Nathan had done what he'd asked and killed him before it was too late.

New memories kept coalescing in his head, making sense of themselves as everything slotted into place. He could almost feel new neurons and connections firing. What in the hell was happening?

He sat there for a while, thankfully on his own now; it was too late for lunch and too early for the evening crowd, so no one was around. And he came to understand that the Troubles had happened. He had died to take back control of his body and to avoid making things worse for Haven. And he had left Nathan and Audrey and the others trying to end the Troubles for good. Which apparently they had managed to do with style, because he was fairly sure this was now the quiet, peaceful little town it was always supposed to have been. They had not only ended the Troubles, they had made it so they'd never happened at all.

Which was all grand, but why did he remember it? Why did he remember both? Was he the only one to remember? He should talk to Nathan and Audrey, but what if they didn't have a clue what he was talking about? How could he ask that question?

He grunted to himself and staggered back to the bar for a whiskey, downing one quickly and then pouring another, trying to think things through logically; one step at a time. If he remembered, then Audrey at least surely would as well. And that meant she would remember him being both alive and dead. So sooner or later, she would probably come to find out which he was, like the proverbial Shroedinger to his cat, he thought with a huff. So the best thing to do would be to stay here (with the whiskey) and see if anyone came to see him.

It turned out he didn't have to wait long.

 

Chief of Police Nathan Wuornos and his new detective Audrey Parker were going over some paperwork when she seemed to blank out on him. He started to ask her what was wrong, but then it hit him too - a bright, blinding white light that wasn't really there, the mother of all migraines and then everything was different. She wasn't just Detective Parker any more, she was Audrey, his Audrey. She had been Sarah and Lucy and Lexie and they had been through at least one lifetime together in the last five years. She had given her life to save this town. Except … she just got here and they hardly knew each other and … breathe, he told himself … just breathe, one breath at a time.

He sat there for a while, processing and getting his head around it and then he looked across the room. She looked as stunned as he felt and then they way she said his name “Nathan”, both soft and intense at once; he knew the same thing had just happened to her. They stood at the same time and met in the middle of the room to hold onto each other, standing there like that for a while, not moving, not able to speak. Just taking it all in.

The door opened to Stan with some paperwork. He gaped at them for a minute, then backed out of the room and shut the door. Nathan locked it after him and they sat on the sofa, dazed.

“You saved us Audrey, you saved Haven for good.”

“I don't understand why we get to be here. When did we get this lucky?“

“The new Barn must have taken the Troubles as a whole. Reset us to a Haven without them,” suggested Nathan. “Besides, don't we deserve a little luck after all that? I thought I'd really lost you this time.”

She squeezed his hand. “I guess we really did it,” she said, amazed.

Nathan was thinking through what he’d had planned for today. There didn't seem to be anything that couldn't wait until tomorrow. Perhaps they should go celebrate. ...

“Oh my god,” Audrey breathed, and Nathan looked at her worried. “Duke,” she finished.

“Oh god,” said Nathan. The memory had been there, along with all the others. He just hadn't processed it properly yet. Perhaps because it would be one of the most painful to, the last time he'd seen Duke pushing into his consciousness like the worst kind of nightmare.

“But I just met him yesterday,” said Audrey, tears in her eyes.

After a moment, Nathan said “But that's right, you did. If we’re really in some kind of Trouble-free alternative reality, then he might be ok? He might be fine?”

“We have to go to The Gull,” said Audrey. “Now.”

 

Nathan drove too fast, though part of him wanted to never get there. Could they really be as lucky as that?

“This morning Duke was just some guy I used to play pool with, and nearly arrested a bunch of times. And now .. “

Audrey just nodded. She had just met him yesterday when he gave her the keys to her new place above the restaurant. And yet, she had met him years ago when he saved her from drowning. They had said goodbye as landlord and tenant, and yet she had said goodbye with tears in her eyes as he gave his life for them. “Oh god,” she said again.

But then they were there.

 

They drove up and parked, everything seemed quiet.

“It's still The Gull,” noted Audrey. “That’s got to be a good sign, right?“

Nathan didn't appear to have heard her. He walked straight to the door and quickly inside, stopping so suddenly Audrey almost walked into him. When she stepped around him, she saw that Duke was there, hunched over a drink at the bar with his back to them; but it had to be him.

“Duke,” she said, meaning to call to him, although it came out as more of a whisper. But it was enough to spur Nathan into walking across the room towards the bar.

Halfway there Duke heard the footsteps.and turned around.

There was a moment where all three of them froze, then Duke took in the looks on their faces and knew that they knew.

“Nate, “ he began and it was clear to them that the same thing had happened to him. Duke pushed himself off the bar stool as Nathan walked towards him and then they were wrapped around each other in the kind of hug that barely allows room to breathe. They stood there, heads on each other's shoulders and Audrey thought they looked like they were holding each other up. Possibly they were.

As she walked up to them she heard muttered words drift across the quiet bar. “... fuck ...”, “I thought …”

When she drew level with them Duke saw her and somehow managed to move himself from Nathan's hug to hers with no apparent gap between. She didn't know what to say. So they just stood there for a moment before Duke pointed them at the nearest table. “Sit,” he said. “I will bring alcohol. And nobody,” he added with feeling, “is going to tell me it's too early.”

Nathan and Audrey didn't disagree and though they sat down next to each other, they didn't comment when Duke squeezed a chair in between them. It was good to feel that he was right there, that he was real.

“OK,” began Duke. “So from the look on your faces and the fact you're not asking me what the hell I'm doing, I know some weird memory-download shit also just happened to you two.” When they nodded, he carried on. “What I would like to clarify is that it is the same weird memory download shit. The Troubles, the Barn, agent Howard, the void, William, Mara, Lexie, Charlotte, Croatoan. …”

They were still nodding and Duke started to relax a little. After quizzing them for a while to be sure they were all remembering the same alternative events, Duke asked them what had happened after he'd died (“There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.”) and as they explained, they realised that the new Barn had done such a thorough job of removing the aether from Haven that it had left without a trace, as though it had never been at all.

“It reset us,” said Audrey. “To what we would have been.”

“Must be, “ agreed Nathan. “But why just us?”

“How do we know it is?” said Duke.

As they considered this, the door opened again and Duke was ready to tell tourists they were closed, but it was Vince and Dave who stood there.

“Dave,” murmured Audrey, amazed.

“Maybe they. ..” started Nathan, but Audrey was already on her feet and half way over to them.

“Does the name Mara mean anything to you?” Vince said, but Audrey just hugged him. “Vince! Thank you. You saved us all.”

Duke saw the same sag of relief in Vince and Dave’s shoulders when they understood it wasn't just them that he had felt himself when he'd seen Nathan and Audrey come through that door.

“Join us,” he called to them. “We have whiskey,” and went to the bar for more glasses.

“Seems appropriate,“ said Dave as they sat down. Duke fired a few quick questions at them to make sure they were remembering the same thing as well, but it seemed clear by now they all were.

They sat and appreciated the whiskey for a little while.

 

“So is this it?” Wondered Nathan. “Are we the only ones who remember any of it?”

“Has anyone spoken to Dwight?” asked Vince.

They all shook their heads. “I barely even know him in this … timeline?” said Duke, struggling for the right word.

“I know him,” said Nathan pulling out his phone. “I'll put it on speaker,” he added after a moment. “Just the rest of you stay quiet unless he remembers.”

“Hey Dwight.”

“Hello Nathan, Haven't heard from you for a while.“

“How's your day going?”

“Good thanks, just dropped Lizzie off at dance class,” says Dwight as though it’s no big deal, and five pairs of eyes round the table go wide. “What's up?”

“Dwight you know Haven pretty well, right?”

“Guess so, why?“

“You ever hear of a time when there was a lot of trouble here?”

“Trouble?” says Dwight, like this is a strange concept. “No. Haven’s always been pretty quiet as far as I know. But you should ask Vince and Dave at the Herald, they have all the historic info.”

“Right. Thanks Dwight. See you in the Gull sometime?”

“Sure. Have a nice day Nathan.”

“Fuck,” said Duke after the call ended - not angry, just overwhelmed. “Oh come on, you're all thinking the same thing.”

“Could this be some kind of Trouble itself?” wondered Nathan.

“I don't see how,” said Vince. “If it were it would make sense that either Audrey or Duke would be immune to it.”

“OK, but ... so?” replied Nathan.

“How come we're the only ones that remember?” finished Duke.

They all looked around their little group for a minute.

“We all had some connection to the void or the Barn or had been inside it.” suggested Dave.

“We were all willing to give our lives for this town,” added Audrey.

 

By now the place is starting to get busy again, but the evening shift is also at work behind the bar so Duke leaves them to it.

 

“Do you know how strange it is to miss someone you've never met?” said Duke, looking across the room to the window and the sea beyond. He looks back and sees Audrey watching him. “Well. I guess you do.”

“Jennifer,” said Nathan, realising.

“She helped this town so much too,” said Audrey.

Something occurs to Duke and his eyes go wide, “Do you think … she might ...”

“She had a pretty strong connection to the Barn,” agrees Audrey.

“And she gave her life sending William back to the void,” adds Vince.

“You should go,” said Nathan. “Down to the pier. Your in-case-of-emergency meeting spot. That's where she'd go, right?”

Duke goes still for a moment, looking down at the table; trying not to get his hopes up Nathan realises. Then he stands up suddenly and heads for the door.

“Let us know?” said Audrey. “If you find her?”

“Of course,” he nods and then he's gone.

 

As he walked up the road Duke could see someone standing where he hoped to find Jennifer. Someone who could be her, looking out to sea. His heart threatened to beat right out of his chest and he found he was running. As he got closer, she turned around and he saw her. Or at least someone who looked like her, but, would she remember? He slowed to a walk again, unsure how he would cope if she didn’t.

“Duke?” she said, hope in her voice and he knew by the way she looked at him and the way she said it (both hopeful and scared at once) that it was his Jennifer.

“Jennifer?” he replied, breaking into a run again. “It’s really you?”

She smiled and walked towards him and when their arms wrapped around each other he didn’t want to ever let go. They held on tight for a long time, and then moved just enough for a kiss.

“I can’t believe you’re back,” he said at last.

“I just got here,” she said. “For the weekend, I mean I was just on vacation, having a coffee and then - bam! - I remember this whole other time here, one that made no sense, with magic books in it and impossible doorways to other worlds and ... I died! I remember that I died, but here I am and I remember this town and I remember you and I remember this spot and I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy, but here you are,” she paused for breath and he just smiled at her. “Am I going crazy?” she asked.

“No. You were never crazy. I remember it all too. I remember that you died. I said goodbye to you here, months ago. I died too actually, to stop Croatoan getting his hands on all the new Troubles Mara cooked up in me. Except I didn’t because I’ve just been working in the Gull all week.”

“New Troubles?”

“A lot happened. None of it good until now. And I’ll tell you about all of it, but right now I think we deserve to celebrate our not-being-dead.”

She smiled and kissed him and he kissed back, hardly able to believe his luck. The stood there enjoying the quiet of a still afternoon and each other and their kiss for what seemed like both a long time and nowhere near long enough.

“Come back to the Rouge? “ said Duke and they walked hand in hand to the boat and the cabin and the bed, Duke pausing only to send a quick text to Audrey on the way.

 

“Well,” said Vince, after they had talked over the theory some more, “Perhaps we should head home. We'll check the Herald‘s archives in the morning, see if the Troubles have really been wiped clean away, or just this last round, or what.”

Dave seemed reluctant to go, but Vince gave him a meaningful look as he nodded his head towards Audrey and Nathan. She struggled to hide her laugh, so he came right out with it, “It occurs to me these two might want to be alone, Dave,” he said.

“See you soon,” she said to their backs as they bickered their way out the door.

 

“So,” said Nathan. “Yesterday we were just colleagues and now …” he struggled for the words, but Audrey just watched him, happy to wait. “Now I feel like my skin is humming just being near you,” he said, taking her hand. “I can feel like anyone else now, but I meant what I said you know, when we said goodbye - I never felt anything until I met you. You are amazing, Audrey Parker.“

“Nathan,” she says with tears in her eyes. “My only regret in walking into that new Barn was you. Leaving you behind. And now here you are, and here I am,” she took his hand. “And Haven is safe and …” Her phone beeped; she read it and smiled. “... and our friends are safe, and I ...” she leant forward to whisper in his ear, “... think we should go upstairs and get rid of these unnecessary clothes.”

His smiled reply descended slowly into a whisper as his lips moved closer to her ear, “I know we just met, but I'm fairly sure I can make you melt if I kiss you just behind your….”

“Nathan Wuornos,” she said sounding pleased. “Is that a promise?”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by story lines in Lost and Angel and some of the amazing fan fiction on this site (in addition to the awesomeness that is Haven itself, obviously) and that familiar desire to just see things work out for the characters you love.  
> And I know that strictly speaking this doesn’t make much sense, because if the Troubles had never happened, the whole town (and all of their lives) would be completely different. Audrey and Jennifer (and Duke?) wouldn’t be in Haven at all. And I don’t have any defence or explanation for that other than; I wanted to write it.


End file.
